Tough Week Equals Big Win for Sting

by Randy Snow
Published on April 11, 2009 under Indoor Football League (IFL)
Saginaw Sting


The Saginaw Sting of the Indoor Football League had a nightmare week leading up to last light's game against their in-state rival, the Muskegon Thunder. Starting quarterback Damon Dowdell was lost for the season due to an injury suffered in last week's 59-20 road loss to the RiverCity Rage and cornerback Corey Gonzales was also lost for the season due to an injury in the same game.

On top of that, Sting head coach Karl Featherstone, who led the team to the Continental Indoor Football League title last season, resigned due to personal reasons earlier in the week. Things were looking pretty bad for the Sting, but sometimes, in the face of adversity, the true character of a team emerges. This was the case Friday night as the Sting put on an impressive offensive performance to defeat the Thunder 65-21 at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw.

Sting assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Jason Lovelock stepped in to handle the coaching duties against Muskegon, a team who was searching for its first win of the season.

Replacing Dowdell at quarterback for the Sting was Robert Hunt, who had been an offensive consultant with the team in the press box the past few weeks.

"I wish I had played a lot better," Hunt said after the game. "I made a ton of mistakes and it hurt my team. We were just fortunate to be able to overcome some of those errors."

Hunt, who is 40-years-old, played college football at nearby Division II Grand Valley State from 1986-1990 and claims he has been playing football for 33 years. He has been playing semi-pro football for the past 17 years for a team called the Detroit Seminoles. He also spent time with the Columbus Thunderbolts of the Arena Football League in 1991, the Flint Flames of the original Indoor Football League in 2000, and the Norfolk Nighthawks of arenafootball2 in 2001.

"Our owner came in and lit a fire under us (this week)," said Hunt, "(I have) great teammates and the coaching staff did a great job in the midst of adversity."

In the game, Hunt completed 21 of 30 passes for 224 yards. He threw four touchdown passes, three of them going to wide receiver Nick Body. Hunt also threw four interceptions in the game and even ran for a three-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Body caught a total of nine passes for 105 yards.

The Thunder started out the game by taking a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter, but it was all Saginaw after that. The Sting scored 28 unanswered points and led 31-14 at halftime. Each team scored once in the third quarter, but another 27 unanswered points in the fourth quarter gave Saginaw its third win of the season. On the final play of the game, Thunder quarterback Dan Richard's pass was intercepted at the goal line by Saginaw linebacker/defensive back Ruben Gay, who returned the ball 50 yards for a touchdown as time expired.

Hopefully, this win will put to rest the emotional rollercoaster ride that the team went through the past week and give them the confidence they need as they continue through the rest of the 2009 IFL season.

NEXT GAMES

Saginaw (3-2) travels to Illinois to take on the Bloomington Extreme on Saturday night, April 18. Muskegon (0-4) will host the Rochester Raiders on Friday night, April 17.

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Indoor Football League Stories from April 11, 2009


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